1st King of Speed results

A cold northerly wind made for a chilly start on the first event in the 9-race King of Speed time trial series: a 5 miler from Dunslow down a quiet A64 and back. While this is a fairly quick course, being flat with only one real turn, it was hard going on the return leg north, into the teeth of a wind that felt like the tail end of winter. But it could mean points in the bag in the best improver competition for those riders who braved the conditions, as they’ll likely go quicker next time.

RCC’s Mark Grange, who set off last with the whole field in front of him to chase, didn’t seem to be slowed a great deal and put in a good time of 11:13, an average speed of 26.75mph. He had second placed rider Barrie Cappleman (Scarborough Paragon) in his sights but didn’t quite catch him. Barrie got a time of 12:02, an average speed of 24.93mph. Barrie was even closer to catching his minute man (riders in time trials are set off at minute intervals), Paragon’s Mike Scott, who finished in 12:57, an average speed of 23:17.

RCC’s David Schubert came in fourth on his still quite shiny and new Specialized Transition, with a time of 14:22. That’s still quicker than a 20mph average: 20.88mph to be exact. The closest finish of the night went to tail-enders Terry Lynch (Paragon) and Rex Rixon (RCC), who was riding only his second ever time trial. Terry must have caught Rex, his minute man, somewhere near the Seamer roundabout, but Rex has ‘got onto the ride’ by then and didn’t give up. They crossed the line side by side (i.e. not drafting) in 16:26 and 17:26, for average speeds of 18:26mph and 17:21mph.

Congratulations to all the riders and thanks to marshals Hazel Grange and Jeff Francis and to photographers Lewis Scott and Toby Boyes. Check out the Gallery for some pictures.

Don’t forget that the next event is on Monday 17th, with the first rider off at 7.15pm and sign on before 7pm. More details on the PDFs here. (If you’re driving out and don’t want to park near Musham Bank roundabout next Monday, don’t forget you can park in Morrison’s car park and ride to the start, which is not far away.)

Apart from that, you don’t need to pre-enter or anything: you just turn up on any roadworthy bicycle (even a mountain bike with slicks, though not a recumbent), pay your £2 and race.

If you want to gauge and improve your fitness, there’s no better way to do it as you get to race against your own best times and speeds, not just other riders. That’s why time trialling called The Race of Truth: you can kid yourself about your fitness, but in this race you can’t hide from it. Don’t worry if you’ve never raced before. It’s very straightforward, and there’s even a trophy for the series that a beginner should win: the Best Improver. And while I’m not taking any bets on the races, there’s nothing to stop you betting a pint of beer or a fiver or something against your riding buddies if you and they are prepared to put your money where you mouth is when it comes to answering the question ‘who is fittest and fastest?’

And if you don’t want to race, just come along and shout some support for half a hour.  Or take some pictures. Or wear a yellow marshal’s bib for an event and help out. It all helps.

Dan